


Colour

by lonely_night



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pretty much everyone who died in DH lives, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 02:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17972519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonely_night/pseuds/lonely_night
Summary: Draco comes to Luna seeking a friend.As he adapts to life without Voldemort but life with a lot of social stigma, he realises he might find exactly what he feared, more than he bargained for, and several things that he doesn’t mind so much.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello!  
> I have absolutely no idea where I’m going with this fic, I have no clue who’s going to appear and I also don’t know what relationships are going to feature either.  
> It’s going to be a wild ride!  
> Xox

* * *

__It was years after the war. And it was a beautiful spring day.

 

A woman with long, flowing dirty-blonde hair set a vase of yellow and orange flowers on the floor outside the door to her house, which had dozens of flowers in vases already outside, strewn along the path directly below her house. The woman sat down on the wooden, weather-beaten bench outside her door and waited.

 

Several hours later, she smiled and nodded to some invisible being. And then she went back inside her house.

 

She repeated this same ritual for seven days.

 

On the seventh day he arrived.

 

The woman sat on her bench on the seventh day, a new vase of flowers along the path to her house, these ones were green, red and yellow, when she saw him walking up the path.

He walked with a certain uncertainty, and his blonde hair, once shiny, had a limpness to it, and although it sat on his head as it had always done, a curl fell across his grey eyes like a step out of line.

He approached the woman without looking at her and she was forcefully reminded of a cat, slinking in the background, treading carefully.

 

“Hello Draco,” she said, her voice casual, as if he crossed Sappy Swamps waters on a rickety boat with a dodgy boatswain, ran through several magical walls, climbed a shrinking vine, walked through a talking forest that magically parted to reveal her otherwise invisible house, and had climbed a ladder to arrive at the door of her house (that was perched within the branches of the highest tree in the forest), everyday.

Hmm, maybe she ought to loosen her security measures a little, but still, even though Voldemort was gone the world was full of all sorts of people. She had learnt this a few months ago when she had been randomly kidnapped by some random kidnappers who really wanted nothing to do with her particularly, they just had thought it would be an experience. She didn’t mind - it had been quite fun really, and they’d had a nice game of exploding snap.

 

“Uh, hello Luna,”Draco muttered.

“Nice to see you,” Luna replied, “come in, I’ll put the kettle on.”

Draco followed Luna into her house which proved to be very... interesting.

Luna smiled dreamily as he stared around.

 

Flowers were everywhere, all different colours, some changing colour every second. Plant pots were hung rather precariously from the walls, causing him to duck at almost every moment.

It was a very bright house with gaudy lamps wrapped in pink and purple cloths that gave the house a soft, golden glow, decorating almost every corner. Open windows let in the outside light, showing the entire forest below them. Draco wasn’t good with heights so he tried not to look out of them too much.

Several cats slept in squishy armchairs by the fireplace which appeared to be out of use and was instead cluttered with an assortment of sweet-smelling candles.

Luna led Draco into the small kitchen, gesturing to him to take a seat on the wooden bench, rather cleaner than the one outside but all the same covered in tea and potion marks.

A rather large, leafy, green plant sat on the table and several upside-down cups hung from the ceiling, appearing to emit light.

There was a large spiral staircase between the kitchen and the living room, covered with ascending golden fairy lights.

Jazz music played softly in the background and a man sang with a soft voice in a language that Draco couldn’t understand.

 

He’d never decorate his place like it but Draco couldn’t help feeling that it was the best house he had ever been in.

 

Luna handed him a mug of tea and placed a basket of ginger cookies on the table next to the plant.

She smiled and took a sip of her own tea which appeared to be herbal.

Everything about Luna was different. Even when Draco had first met her in Hogwarts she had been different. Pansy had called her ‘weird’, ‘odd’, and had bullied her mercilessly, Draco remembered guiltily.

Luna hadn’t seemed odd or weird, just different. And she had been kind enough to talk to Draco when he had had no one to talk to in his 5th and 6th year.

It seemed she was no different now, and looking at her radish earrings that dangled from her tiny, elvish ears, and her cheerful cornflower dress painted with floral print that didn’t hide the inked lettering and artwork all over her body, Draco felt strangely at peace.

He showed her his arm.

 

The remnants of the damaged Dark Mark pulsed darkly, sinisterly. Draco looked at her, fear swimming in his eyes.

“I can work with that,” Luna reassured him, taking out her wand and taking a roll of parchment and a quill from a draw at her right, “if you could go and sit in the living room I’ll be there in a moment.”

 

Draco went into the living room and sat in the only unoccupied chair, listening to the quiet purring of the three cats and Luna’s music which sounded a little louder in this room but was still calming. Inhaling the gentle smell of the low-burning candles, Draco let himself relax for the first time in years.

 

A few minutes later, Luna walked into the room.

“Ready?” She asked, her blue eyes smiling.

“Yes”, he replied, the one hand that was clutched around his warm mug of tea trembling slightly.

He stretched out his arm for her, and she began to work.

Draco watched her as she traced the intricate patterns on his arm with her wand and saw, to his amazement, flowers begin to bloom.

The petals were all different colours and they unfurled on his arm, creating beautiful splashes of delicate colour on his arm, completely covering the mark of his past.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Luna smiled, “sleep now. I’m going to enchant the tattoo and then choose what magical property to assign it, but you don’t have to be awake for that.”

A black cat leapt, purring, into Draco’s lap and curled up. Draco, exhausted, closed his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco spends more time at Luna’s, and Narcissa calls.

Draco awoke to the feeling of his arm throbbing slightly. He moved it and started at the feeling of soft fluff underneath his fingers. Looking down, he saw that the small black cat was still asleep on his lap.

Luna was sat next to him, humming quietly, and appeared to be drawing something. She had a very fluffy ginger cat on her lap and it kept batting at the pencil she was using. Luna didn’t seem to mind though, and still very much focused on her drawing, she said, “hello Draco, how’re you feeling?”

“Good,” he said, realising he felt better than he had for a while, “how long did I sleep for?”

“Not that long actually, but you can stay in the guest room for as long as you want. Or you can stay here in your chair, I don’t mind.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you’d hardly want to cross the Sappy swamp now would you?”

Draco looked out of one of the many windows and realised that it was getting dark outside. Stars were beginning to paint the blueish sky.

He shook his head, “Luna, why do you have so many ... safety precautions?”

“Oh, I was kidnapped a while ago,” said Luna vaguely.

Draco gaped at her, “that’s awful!”

“Oh no, it was quite fun really, we played exploding snap.”

Draco, bewildered, thought he’d leave that conversation for another day.

“But seriously,” Luna continued, “you can stay for as long as you want. The last time Harry stayed over he stayed for a month.”

Draco stiffened at the mention of his former-enemy’s name but Luna pretended not to notice, “how does your arm feel?”

“It’s fine, just a bit achy.”

Luna nodded, “I’ll just make us both something to eat and then I’ll show you to your room.”

“Thank you, Luna, I don’t know what to say,” Draco faltered.

“You’re welcome,” said Luna, grinning.

“And you’ve made my arm... beautiful.”

Luna smiled at him, “it already was, you just couldn’t see it.”

 

Moving the black cat carefully to another armchair, Draco stood up, swaying slightly, to help Luna make the meal.

“You don’t have to help, you know,” she said gently.

Draco shrugged bashfully, “what’re you making?”

“Just some egg fried rice I think.”

One of Draco’s favourite meals. He smiled, “sounds perfect.”

 

Later, lying in Luna’s guest bed, which was just as welcoming and bright as Luna herself, Draco felt comfortable, cared for and safe.

He looked at his arm and realised that he had forgotten to ask Luna what charm she had put on his tattoo. It was Luna’s signature mark to put a charm on her customer’s tattoo, anything from a simple movement charm to changing colour if you were in danger. He’d ask her tomorrow, he decided, but for now he would sleep.

 

 

Luna awoke early, like normal, to the sound of birdsong. Pulling a large grey sweater over the top of her pyjamas, she went downstairs, fed the cats, and threw birdseed out her window for the birds that, like every morning, flocked to the branches of the tree.

In this way, Draco also awoke to the sound of birds.

 

Once they had had breakfast, Luna checked his arm.

“It’s looking fine,” she said, “no infection or irritation, how’s it feeling?”

“Good, yeah,” said Draco, remembering, “I meant to ask; what charm...?”

“Well, the flowers bloom with your mood, but also act as a shield.”

“So if someone attacked me they’d protect me?” Draco frowned, assuming a shield on his arm couldn’t protect his entire body.

“No,” said Luna.

Draco’s brow creased, more confused,

“They shield you from your own hand. If you ever try to hurt yourself, they protect you.”

Draco looked at her, and then away, out of the window as he watched the morning dawn upon them.

“Thank you.”

Luna smiled and nodded, “so, I need another opinion on this new Muggle trend in relaxation.”

Draco, who had actually been spending all his time in Muggle London, partly due to his Father’s lectures who was still a great defender of blood-status and dark magic, and partly due to the abuse he suffered in the wizarding world for bearing the Malfoy name. He worked in a Muggle bookstore. His Mother would sometimes join him for a coffee in the cafe next door, and she brought him the Daily Prophet once a month. He owned a flat.

Draco hadn’t been in the wizarding world for several months and had only returned to see Luna after news about her celebrated healing and artistic talents had spread as far as Narcissa Malfoy (who was currently living a quiet, and from what she told him, very nice life in Slovenia), who had begged her son to go and see her.

 

Draco frowned, “what new Muggle trend?”

“I believe it’s called ASMR,” said Luna.

“Oh yeah,” said Draco, taking out his phone, “I’ve uh, had a look already.” He would have never admitted it to anyone other than Luna, but during long, painful nights, ASMR was the only thing that could calm him.

“I thought you might have,” said Luna, “what do you think? Ginny thinks it’s silly but I rather like it.”

“Yeah, I- I, uh, really find it helpful.”

“Mmmm,” mused Luna, “me too, it really is very calming isn’t it?” She paused, “well, Ginny isn’t here, and you like it, so d’you wanna watch some now?”

Draco grinned at Luna’s excitement, “sure.”

“Ooh, you have a fone! Perfect!”

 

As the woman on the screen began talking softly, Draco felt himself relaxing, and Luna next to him yawned, grabbing a blanket and wrapping it over them both.

It didn’t take long for Draco to feel incredibly sleepy again - he really hadn’t slept properly for a while.

He felt a slight weight on his shoulder and saw Luna had lain her head on his shoulder, “is this okay?”

He stiffened. “Uh, yeah,” Draco hadn’t had any personal contact apart from his Mother’s treasured hugs for a long time.

The video continued and Draco felt his eyes closing. He heard a quiet snuffling to his right and saw that Luna was asleep.

If Luna was asleep, maybe it was okay for him to sleep then, he reasoned.

Draco closed his eyes.

 

 

He awoke to the sound of his phone ringing.

“Wha’s ‘hat?” Luna muttered blearily,

“Just my phone, two seconds.”

Draco pushed himself up, out of the armchair, his head spinning from the sudden movement and took his phone out of his back pocket.

“Hello?”

“Draco, hi honey!”

“Hiya Mum”, Draco grinned, it seemed as though Narcissa had finally worked out how to use the phone that he had bought for her after she had bought an apartment in Slovenia.

“How are you? Are you with Luna?”

“Yeah, I’m at her place now.”

“Are you safe?”

Draco smiled; his Mother worried too much, “yes, I made it across fine.”

“I don’t know why she has so many safety measures, talk about loopy!”

“Mum, you live in Muggle Slovenia.”

“Point taken,” Draco could hear her smiling.

“How long are you staying then?”

“Not sure. I’ve taken two months off work but that’s because I was thinking of coming to see you.”

“Spend as long as you need at Luna’s, really Draco. I’d rather see you happy.”

Luna was known for letting her guests stay for several months, and when they left they always praised her healing talents.

“Thanks Mum.”

It felt strange calling her Mum when he had always called her Mother, but they had both changed so much since leaving Malfoy Manor together and the old-fashioned formality of ‘Mother’ didn’t feel right anymore.

Draco loved her so much though, even though it was difficult when they lived so far away. Narcissa apparated the long journey in parts, often arrived at Diagon Alley exhausted, and sneaking through into Muggle London, doing her best to avoid recognition from other wizards and witches.

They both led lonely lives, rejected by the wizarding community, but Draco enjoyed the company of his next door neighbour, a slightly batty old woman who smelt like cabbage and owned a lot of cats.

Narcissa appeared to be making friends in Slovenia despite her loose grasp of the language, and Draco loved hearing about her slightly crazy antics; memorably the time that she met a good-looking man outside a nightclub she went to with her girlfriends and forgot the word for ‘dance’. She attempted to show him what she meant, but she was so drunk she tripped over and fell into the rubbish bin.

That one had had Draco howling with laughter, and the routine of looking for any news of his Father’s arrest on the front page of the Daily Prophet became far more enjoyable.

“So Mum, tell me what you’ve gotten up to this weekend,” he grinned.

“Nataša took me to this new bar down the street! They have the best wine there, we have to go there when you arrive!”

“Deal,” said Draco. He was already looking forward to it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> The song playing in Luna’s house is Despedida by Juan Pablo Vega for anyone who wants to know ;)


End file.
